Toy pistol



(No Model.)

W. P. POLMER & W. E. SGHWING.

TOY PISTOL. i No. 451,554. Patented May 5, 1891.

" 15/ 1/ 0 I(IIIIII(IIIIIA"IIIIIIYIIIIIIIZ=- Illllll I INVENTOR: AW MIQ WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

'WILLIAH F. FOLMER, OF INDEPENDENCE, AND ALTER E. SCIIWING, OF LOUISVILLE, K ENTUOKY.

TOY PISTOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,554, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed August 28, 1890. Serial No. 363,369. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

De it known that we, \VILLIAM F. FOLMER, residing at Independence, Kenton county, Kentucky, and \VALTER E. SOHWING, of Louisville, Jefferson county, in the State of Kentucky, both citizens of the United States, have invented certain Improvements in Toy Pispols, of which the following is a specifica- Our invention relates to that class of toy pistols which are adapted to explode percus- S1011 caps or pellets; and the object of our invention is, in the main, to provide a pistol that will feed by the act of cocking or setting the hammer a strip of paper or thin material, carrying pelletsof fulminating substance to the point where the hammer strikes, said strip being in the form of a coil or roll and lodged in a recess in the frame or casing of the pistol. The hammer is so constructed, by preference, as to cut off the exhausted extremity of the strip as fast as it is used.

Our invention will be fully described hereinafter, and its novel features carefully de- J fined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,which serve to illustrate our invention, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a pistol embodying our improvements, one section or half of the easing or frame being removed to expose the interior and mechanism. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the pistol partly broken away to show the construction of the interior mechanism. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the pistol, the plane of the section being indicated by line 3 3 in'Fig. 2.

The casing which incloses the operative mechanism of the pistol consists of two hollow or recessed sections or halves A and A, which will be preferably of cast metal. These sections, when put together face to face and secured by rivets or otherwise, have the contour and general appearance of a pistol or revolver, of which C0 is the stock or handle, b the barrel, and c a central chamber.

Vithin the chamber 0 is a studor pin 0, on which is slipped a coil or roll consisting of a strip (1 of paper or like thin material, carrying pellets of fulminate (2. The chamber a is closed by a door or wicket 0 arranged to turn about a screw, rivet, or stud 0 In Fig. 2 this wicket is represented as partly displaced or pushed aside in order to illustrate the mode of opening the chamber for the insertion of the coiled strip d. After the strip has been placed in the chamber 0 its extremity is led up through the feeding devices, to be hereinafter described, and to the exploding-point or anvil c, where the hammer f strikes. \Vithin the handle a is mounted the spring g, which actuates the hammer. This latter and the trigger i turn about a stud 71,011 the inner wall of the casing, which forms a common axis.

We will now describe the construction of the operative mechanism, including the mechanism for feeding the strip (7 to the anvil when the hammer is drawn back.

On the stud h are rotatively mounted two like ratchet-wheels 7' j, and between these wheels are situated the hammer f and trigger 11, these latter being gained or halved at the pivoting-point, so that at other points they will stand in the same plane. In Fig. 2 the near wheel 7' is omitted in order to show the construction behind it. The moving extremity of the spring 9 engages a recess in the back of the hammer placed in such a position that when the hammer is drawnback fully (see Fig. the line of force along which the spring acts passes below the axis of the stud 7L, and the spring thus holds the hammer at full-cock; but when the hammer is moved forward the line of force is shifted until it passes above the axis of the stud, and the spring then drives the hammer forward forcibly against the anvil c. On the respective sides of the hammer are mounted two loosely-pivoted gravity-pawls 7t 7;, which engage the teeth of the respective ratchet-wheels j, whereby when the hammer is drawn back in cocking these pawls rotate said wheels in the direction of the arrow thereon in Fig. 1. \Vhen the trigger is pulled and the hammer is driven forward, these pawls are thrown out by centrifugal force and pass freely over the teeth of the ratchet-wheels, which are prevented from moving backward by a spring-pawl Z. This mode of mounting the pawls 7o prevents them from wearing off the ratchet-teeth, and also from producing a clicking noise when the hammer is driven forward by the spring.

To prevent the pawls 75 from turning entirely over or rising too high, stops 7c in the nature of pins or studs are set in the hammer. The ratchet-wheels j bear on the strip cl at each side of the central row of pellets d, so as. not to press upon the latter, and they are enabled to bite into said strip and feed the same by reason of a yielding elastic resistance consisting of a spring m, carrying, by preference, a 10 bearing-roller m. The strip d on its way upward to the anvil passes between this spring and roller, and the ratchetwheelsj, which nip it elastically and rather forcibly. The movement of the hammer in cocking will be suffix5 cient to move the strip cl a distance equal to that between the centers of two adjacent pellets on the strip, so that at each cocking of the pistol a pellet will be brought into position to be struck and exploded by the ham- :0 mer.

The hammer is provided, by preference, with a projecting cutterf onits face to sever the strip at each blow. This cutter plays over and close to the anvil, as clearly seen in Fig. 1, and it removes the exhausted portion of the strip as it is fed upward.

The pawl Z serves the purpose of a guide to assist the operator in passing the end of the strip at upward between the spring m and wheels j. Above this point the strip passes up through a suitable way formed in the material of the casing.

As we have stated, the trigger t; and the hammerf turn about a stud h in common.

5 The trigger, when pulled back to its fullest extent, is housed in a trigger-casing i, as seen in Fig. 1, and it is necessary to provide some means for moving the trigger out from this casing in order that it may be actuated c by the finger. The means herein shown comprise a shoulder a on the boss of the hammer adapted to engage a corresponding shoulder 0 on the boss of the trigger when the hammer shall have been drawn back part way.

5. The remainder of the movement of the hammer moves or swings the trigger forward. I prefer to provide the trigger with a broad spring-pawl 7, adapted to engage the ratchetwheels j on the lower side and assist in turning them when the pistol is cooked; but this pawl is not essential.

In order to prevent the end of the strip d from passing back .over the ratchet-wh eels in-v stead of upward through the proper passage or channel, the trigger may be provided with a'projection s from its boss, which extends up to and nearly meets the metal of the casing A at s, as seen in Fig.2.

It is deemed desirable that some port-ion of the smoke from the exploded pellet shall issue from the barrel b of the pistol, and therefore we so construct the casing as to provide a passage for the smoke through the hollow thereof to the muzzle of the barrel. The crevice ex- 6 5 tending vertically through the anvil 6, onehalf of which is integral with each of the sections A and A of the casin g, will suffice to allow the smoke to pass from the point of explosion into the hollow of thccasing; but, if

from falling on and igniting the said strip,

and this partition u, in conjunction with the guard-plate 25, serves to prevent any powder introduced through the barrel 1) from getting into the upper part of chamberc'and danger-.

ously near to the anvil e.

We contemplate making the strip d of such light and fragile material that it would be destroyed or disintegrated by the explosion more or less perfectly; but in case it should not be wholly destroyed the cutter on the hammer will remove the part still remaining.

The trigger might be made in one with the hammer and move in unison therewith; but as the hammer is required to move farther than the trigger, and to move freely in order to get the full force imparted by the spring, we prefer the construction described.

The stud in the chamber 0 is not essential, as the coiled pellet-strip may be placed in said chamber and allowed to rest on the bottom thereof. This chamber is arranged in front of the lock and feeding mechanism and in the hollow of that part of the casing which simulates the revolving cartridge-chamber of the pistol.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. In a toy pistol adapted for exploding pellets of fulminating compound arranged in series on a pellet-strip, the combination,with the casin g having an anviland a chamber for said strip in front of the lock-chamber, of the ham mer and its spring, the trigger, and mechanism for feeding the pellet-strip to the anvil whenever the hammer is drawn back, said mechanism comprising a ratchet-wheel mounted concentrically with the hammer and its teeth pressing on the pellet-strip, a pawl carried by the hammer and engaging the teeth of said ratchet-wheel, a pawl Z, which prevents backward rotation of said ratchet-wheel, and a yielding bearing behind the pellet-strip at the feeding-point, substantially as set forth.

2. .In a toy pistol adapted for exploding pellets of fulminating compound, the combination, with the casing provided with an anvil, of the-hammer and its spring, a ratchet-wheel mounted to. rotate concentrically with said hammer, a pawl on said hammer engaging the teeth of said Wheel, meansfor preventing the backward rotation of said ratchet-wheel, and a'spring which presses the pellet-strip up to the said ratchet-wheel,whereby when the hammer is drawn back the pellet-strip will be fed to the anvil.

3. In a toy pistol adapted for exploding pellets of fulminating compound, the combination,with the casing having an apertured anvil, and a barrel the hollow of which com municates with the apertures in the anvil, of the hammer, its spring, and the trigger, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4 In a toy pistol, the combination, with a casing having the form of a pistol and provided with an anvil and a chamber for the pellet-strip, of a hammer, its spring, a trigger, and a feeding mechanism for the pellet-strip, consistin g of two wheels with teeth which press on the strip at opposite sides of the row of pellets, and means, substantially as described, for imparting a partial rotation to said wheels when the hammer is raised, as setforth.

5. The combination, with the casing of a toy pistol provided with an anvil and a chamber for the coiled pellet-strip, of the spring m and roller m, forming the yielding resistance of the feed mechanism, the ratchet-wheelj, arranged to feed the pellet-strip, the stop-pawl Z, the hammer f, provided with pawls Z0, en-

gaging the teeth of the respective wheels j,

and the hammer-actuating spring.

6. In a toy pistol adapted for exploding pellets of fulminating substance, the casingA A, provided with a hollow barrel b, an apertured anvil, a chamber 0 to contain the pellet-strip,

and a partition u in said chamber to prevent the fire from the anvil from igniting the said pellet-strip.

7. In a toy pistol, the hollow casing having an apertured anvil, a hollow barrel, an internal cavity extending from the anvil to the bore of the barrel for the passage of smoke, a chamber c to receive the pellet-strip, and a deflector or guard-plate t, arranged between the inner end of said bore and the chamber 0, as and for the purpose specified.

8 In a toy pistol wherein a pellet-strip is fed to the anvil by a ratchet-feeding mechanism, the combination,with a casing having a chamber for the pellet-strip and an anvil, of the hamm er, a hammer-actuating spring, a trigger, a ratchetavheel mounted concentrically with the hammer for feeding the pellet-strip to the anvil when the hammer is drawn back, and a gravity-pawl 70, carried by the hammer and engaging said ratchet-wheel, whereby when the hammer is set free and moves rapidly up to the anvil said pawl will be held away from the ratchet-teeth by centrifugal force.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

XVILLIAM F. FOLMER. WALTER E. SOIUVING.

Witnesses:

HENRY CONNE'IT, J. D. CAPLINGER. 

